The Tower
by Lapis of Lazuli
Summary: AU. Arthur is a lonely wizard who's locked himself away in a tower. At the goading of his friends, Alfred breaks into the tower, only to find said very adorably grumpy wizard.
1. Chapter 1

Title: 'The Tower' - Chapter 1

Genere: AU, romance, adventure

Pairing: USxUK

Rating: Somewhere between PG and PG-13

Summary: Arthur is a lonely wizard who's locked himself away in a tower. At the goading of his friends, Alfred breaks into the tower, only to find said very (adorably) grumpy wizard.

'The Tower'

Long, long ago, in a world not unlike our own, but yet still completely different, there lied the small kingdom of Hetalia. It was a fascinating land, that, due to a suitable geography, held many different ethnicities and cultures. Like all countries, it had it's share of folklore and legends, but there was one in particular that every resident of the land, from old man to small child, knew. Near the small town of Salisbury, there was a great, expansive forest. And at the very heart of the forest, there stood an enormous tower.

The legend of the tower was as varied as the people who told it. Some versions of the legend claimed that the tower had been standing since the beginning of time. Some said that it was built by a god or deity, and other still proposed that it was all that remained of a once great civilization. But no matter what the story claimed the origin of the tower was, it's purpose was a constant. It was put there to house some great evil. What that evil exactly was, was yet another detail lost to time.

Perhaps this part of the legend remained the same, because it was supported by actual fact. No one ventured very far into the forest surrounding the tower, for the farther they went in, the less likely they were to come out. And so the people stayed away. And the tower stood. Ominous and foreboding, at the heart of it all.

It was, however, a sort of pastime for the young men of Salisbury to goad each other into going into the forest. It was a sort of "coming of age" ritual. The boy who went furthest into the forest was immediately declared the bravest by his group of friends. It was good, mostly harmless fun.

That is, until one day, when a young boy ventured into the forest and never returned. From that point onwards, the forest was strictly off-limits. A wall was erected, and a guard was posted along it. No one was allowed to enter the forest for any reason. And so it came to be that the citizens of Salisbury went about their lives, ignoring the wall, the forest, and the tower...

* * *

Roughly a century after the wall had ben erected, there lived in the village a young man and and his brother. They were very similar in appearance, but completely opposite in personality. The elder of the two, Alfred, was brash and bold, with a strong sense of justice. He had eyes like the sky on a cloudless day set behind his glasses, and hair like the wheat that grew in the fields surrounding their home. The younger brother, Matthew, was very timid, in contrast, and always shied away from conflict.

One day, the boys were down by the river, shirking off their chores by Alfred's suggestion. They met up with some of the other boys in the village and proceeded to idle away their time talking about anything and everything with their friends.

It began innocently enough. Alfred was starring at the tower, very intently, for a reason that the could not himself explain.

"Alfred, what's wrong, aru?" queried Wang, a boy who's family came from a faraway land, as was evident by his long silken black hair, striking features, and unique clothes.

Alfred was snapped out of his reserve. "Huh? What? Oh, n- nothing... I was just, looking at the tower. What do you think is in there? I mean, I know that we've all heard rumors. But what do you think is out there really?"

His friends looked at each other for a moment, surprised by Alfred's uncharacteristic thoughtfulness.

"Mon ami," Francis, an overly touchy-feely boy with long hair and stubble he refused to shave because he thought it made him look more '_vogue'_ said "those stories are just the adult's way of keeping the little ones in line. The tower is nothing more than a fairy tale."

Alfred wasn't convinced. "Yeah, but, they built a wall and everything! They wouldn't do that if it was nothing!" he turned his gaze back to the tower.

"I heard that the tower houses an evil witch, who disguises herself as a beautiful young woman to lure men to their deaths!" Matthew stated, his voice grim but excited.

"_C'est terrible_!" Francis cried over-dramatically "It is a crime against _amour_!"

"Well I heard it was haunted by the ghost of an evil king!" Ivan, a large boy who always wore a scarf said in his sing-song voice.

At this, Alfred stiffened. "G- ghost?"

"Yes. The king was murdered by his advisors because he was so corrupt. And his spirit still haunts the tower to this day..." Ivan said as he glared at him from behind his scarf. Seriously, that guy was so bizarre sometimes.

Alfred paled. "Is- is that so?"

"That's a load of crap, aru!" Wang commented, crossing his arms.

Francis, damn him, seemed to catch onto Alfred's discomfort. "What's this? You're not _scared _are you, _Mr. Hero_?" He said, using Alfred's love of heroism against him.

"Wha- what? N- no way!" Alfred protested "I'm not scared of some dumb witch or... or... ghost..." he trailed off at the end.

"OH? You're not, eh? Then why don't you prove it." Matthew said smiled at him from behind his glasses, with just a hint of malice in his tone. _Mattie, what did I ever do to you? _Alfred frantically thought._ Except that one time I blamed you for the neighbor's broken window, or the time I gave your stuffed bear a haircut... or when I drank all your maple syrup... or... Damn._

If Alfred had any color left in his face, it was now gone._ Crap._ he thought. _I don't wanna go up against some scary ghost... but I cant let them think I'm chicken! _"Uh, what... what do you mean?" he finnaly replied, feigning ignorance.

Ivan stared at him with his sickeningly sweet smile "To prove to everyone you're not scared of the _ghosts~"_, he drew out the word, just to see Alfred squirm, which he did. "Then you won't mind going into that tower."

Alfred gulped rather loudly. "In- into the tower?" His voice cracking as he spoke. The very thought of going anywhere remotely near a place with ghosts sent shiver down his spine. There was nothing else that scared him the way ghosts did. I mean, dead people should stay dead, right?

But it seemed that his friends had made up their minds. "Yes, that sounds like a magnificent idea." Francis said smirking like a cat who had just caught a bird. "You must go to the tower and bring back evidence that you were there. Or else..." he trailed off.

"Or- or else what?" Alfred asked, now slightly more scared of his friend's devious punishment than the threat of ghosts. But only slightly...

* * *

Alfred trudged his way through the trees, cursing his brother and the others with all his might. It was just like Matt to pull something like that. His brother was usually so quiet and unassuming, but he could be quite cunning when need be. It was probably from hanging around Francis too much. He made a mental note to keep those two away from each other.

At least sneaking into the forest wasn't a difficult task. (Seriously, why did they let some sleepy, cat-obsessed guy guard the wall?) Alfred all but strolled into the forest. A quick vault over the wall and he was in. He had paused briefly just after he passed the first few trees to see his friends encouraged him silently from the other side. And by encouraging, I mean making chicken charades and generally threatening gestures. With friends like that...

Shoving a branch out his way, and getting his pants caught on some thorns for the umpteenth time, Alfred trudged in the general direction of the tower. Although the tower was immense, the thick canopy of trees overhead obscured his view of it more often than naught. Because of this, he had become lost several times, and had to scale a tree or find a clearing to get his bearings once again.

All of this clamoring caught the attention of the woodland creatures. Deer scampered away at the (rather loud) sound of Alfred's footfalls. Squirrels jumped away from him, and rabbits sought the protection of their boroughs upon his arrival. But there was one creature of the forest that did not flee Alfred's presence. It was a small creature, with a faint glow and a humanoid form. She flapped he wings and followed Alfred, unbeknownst to him of course.

His long trek had left Alfred some time for introspection. Just what was he doing? Seriously. Hoping a guarded wall and sneaking into a forbidden forest to visit a possibly _haunted_ tower.... This didn't seen particularly heroic to him. But then again... there had to be something to the mystery of the tower. They wouldn't have built a wall if there wasn't _something_ to warrant one. But what could it be?

Alfred had heard all of the stories, but that's all that they were, stories. The only concrete evidence of the tower's "evil" was the documented disappearance a young boy some hundred years ago. But the rest... well, missing livestock was hardly the work of an evil tower. More like a wolf. Perhaps the tower was nothing more than a convenient excuse, a scapegoat. Perhaps...

Alfred caught himself before he could get too philosophical. His wondering would do him no real good. And so he focused ahead, to the tower, (or, the direction he hoped was the tower) and steeled him for whatever awaited him there. But he didn't have to wait long, because a few moment later, Alfred saw the enormous black base of the tower.

Stopping in his tracks, Alfred gulped audibly. This was it. The moment of truth. Alfred squared his shoulders, set his face into an expression that he hoped passed as determined, and slowly proceeded to walk forward.

"You can do this Alfred." he thought to himself. "Just go in there, grab something convincing, and then get the hell outta there! Yeah, no big. I can do this." It was at this point that Alfred had realized that he was standing before a rater large door, which appeared to be the only entrance to the tower. He craned his head back, peering up to try and see the top of the enormous tower. It seemed to go forever, scraping the very sky.

Turning his attention back to the task at hand, Alfred reached out a (trembling) hand toward the large, round, iron handle of the door. Before Alfred could grab at the handle, however, the door opened to revel a figure, whose face was shrouded in shadow due to the large hooded cloak they wore about their shoulders. In fact, Alfred could see little of the figure's, well, figure because of the immense thick cloak. It was almost as if, there WAS no figure beneath the cloak...........

Alfred screamed. It was neither manly, not heroic, or even remotely dignified. In fact, it was rather high-pitched for someone of his age and size. So in a way, it was quite impressive. Not that it really mattered, because a second later, Alfred's eyes decided to roll into the back of his head, and his legs felt that they had rather had enough of standing, and from there, gravity took over. It was at some point on the way down that Alfred lost consciousness. So when his body hit the ground with a thud, he was not able to appreciate the lovely shade of white that he had turned.

The figure beneath the cloak, however, was conscious for all of these things, and was able to appreciate them to their full extent. Well, appreciate was probably too strong a therm. 'Was scared pants-less' was probably a better term. I mean, how would you feel if you opened your front door and there was some idiot standing there who proceeded to scream in your face and then faint on your doorstep? Very rude.

The small twinkling creature that had been following Alfred without his knowledge delicately fluttered up to rest upon the figure's shoulder.

"Well, who is he, Kensi?" the figure asked in distinctly male voice. The figure was apparently familiar with, and able to see, this small creature.

"I don't know." the faye (for what else could she be?) replied, "He wandered in from the direction of Salisbury. He seems harmless enough. Well, mostly harmless. A real nutter, though. He kept mumbling to himself about ghosts, and witches, and curses."

The figure perked up at this statement. "Really? Do you think he has the sight?" the figure asked, a twinge of hope in his age-worn voice.

"I dunno. He never noticed me following me the whole time I was following him." the small creature replied.

"Hmm..." the figure uttered as he thought to himself. He then bent down on one knee beside the unconscious figure of Alfred, (who was mumbling something about ghosts) and preceded to pull back his hood. The figure stared down at Alfred's (lightly snoring) form with poisonous green eyes. His sandy, choppy bland hair stuck up at awkward angles as it always did. His (enormous!) eyebrows lowered into a frown over his eyes as he uttered the first of many words directed toward Alfred.

"Git."

* * *

On another side note, would anyone believe me if I told you that this was my first ever fic? I'm sure some would.

Comments are not mandatory, but much appreciated!

Thank you for reading! m(_ _)m


	2. Chapter 2

Title: 'The Tower' - Chapter 2

Genere: AU, romance, adventure

Pairing: USxUK

Rating: Somewhere between PG and PG-13

Summary: Arthur is a lonely wizard who's locked himself away in a tower. At the goading of his friends, Alfred breaks into the tower, only to find said very (adorably) grumpy wizard.

'The Tower' - Chapter 2

The first thing Alfred became aware of when he awoke was the fact that he was not where he was when he -fainted- dramatically lost consciousness in the most manly way possible. As he slowly ascended form the depths of sleep, his senses began to kick in, one at a time. First, he felt the softness he was encased in. (Blankets? Pillows?) A pleasant warmth fluttered across his face, staining the back of his eyelids with a red hue. (Sunlight?) He shifted, turning from his back to lay on his side, (Definitely in a bed) and slowly opened his eyes.

He was greeted with, what appeared to be, the interior of a very roomy and pleasant house. The walls were made of a dark stone, (_Like the tower_, Alfred groggily thought) and were decorated with shelves full to the brim of dusty tomes and long intricate tapestries. There was a fireplace that contained a few gently glowing remnants of logs directly across from the bed he was lying in. A single window on the right side of the room let in a few rays of light between it's heavy once velvet curtains. A great worn rug spread across the floor, completing the atmosphere if the room.

Alfred had never been to a castle, his family wasn't _that_ rich, but he imagined that this is what one must look like. All solid stone walls, and worn furniture. A musty smell that spoke of many years of loving occupancy lingered in the air. Books strewn about the floor, a small desk in the corner with a chair. Well, It was rather cluttered, for a castle, but not in a messy way. It all seemed rather organized, and all in all, rather homey.

Alfred sat up slowly, and noted that he was not injured in any way. He thought back to the last thing he could remember... He had gone to the tower, at his friend's threatening- urging. He had been just about to open the door when it swung open of it's own accord... and then..

The ghost! Or witch! Or... whatever it was that had haunted the tower had been standing there! It must have been waiting for him! But he had cleverly played dead. (Yeah, that was it...) And now the thing had brought him up to it's room to... to... Well, Alfred really wasn't sure. He wasn't even sure _what_ had abducted him.

He was inwardly hoping for a witch. He was fairly confident he could deal with a witch. Mostly because witches weren't ghosts. If she tried to attack him, he would fend her off. If she tried to seduce him, well, then he just wouldn't fall for it! He'd punch her right in her ugly witch face, and save the day! Yeah. That sounded good.

But what if it WAS a ghost? A witch you could punch, or throw water on, or lock in the fireplace. But a ghost? They had no bodies! How do you fight something with no body!?!?! Alfred had become a bit frantic in his thought pattern, and was panicking. _Anything but a ghost_ he pleaded to every deity he could think of. _A goblin, a troll, even a dragon would be fine! __**JUST NOT A GHOST!!!!**_

_Creak._

Alfred's head whipped around towards the direction the sound had come from. Eyes wide and mind racing, he spotted a door that he was certain wasn't there earlier. And it was slowly opening...

* * *

At the same time Alfred was freaking out, the owner of the room he was resting in was stumbling through the underbrush near the tower looking for a particular herb that was used to make a rather powerful awakening spell. He had on his trusty cloak, that was supposed to repel evil spirits, but apparently all it did was make idiots on your doorstep pass out... ANd helping him in his small quest were five small faeries that each possessed their own faint coloured glows.

"Can you believe that guy?" snapped the yellow hued one, Kensi. "He comes all the way out here only to scream in your face and faint dead away."

"I know. It was, like, so totally rude!" the pinkish fairy, Isling, said with a rather over exaggerated hair flip.

"Uh, well... I dunno. He must have had a good reason... don't you think?" mused the purple faye, Chels, whilst twiddling her fingers.

"Damn it, Chels. You need to grow a spine!" shouted a rather intimidating blue fairy by the name of Peck. He hauled a weed from the ground and deposited it into the wicker basket the cloaked figure had slung from his shoulder. "How did he even get this far into the forest in the first place?" he asked, throwing a sideways glance at Kensi.

"What? Don't look at me! You only said to keep out the dangerous types." Kensi snapped defensively "I sensed this boy's aura. He was more scared than anything else. He's no more dangerous than _Shad _is!" she finished by pointing to the last fairy in the clearing, Shad, who was letting off his soft green glow whilst humming to himself quietly and fluttering about in an aimless manner.

"My friends," the cloaked figure finally spoke up "Please, now is not the time to fight. There is an unconscious lad in my bed and the sooner I can get him up and on his way, the better. Now, will you please stop your bickering and help me find some Wormwood?"

Begrudgingly, the faeries ceased their bickering and resumed their work. Once they had enough herbs, the mysterious cloaked figure began to make his way back to the base of the tower. He muttered a short incantation under his breath, and the large door that Alfred had tried to grab earlier appeared. The figure placed his hand on the large handle, turned it, and pushed the door open.

* * *

The door creaked on it's ancient hinges as Alfred watched as the same cloaked figure that had spooked him earlier waltzed through the door as if it owned the place. (Ok, well, it probably did... but that was beside the point!) Thinking fast, Alfred threw himself off of the bed and down onto the floor. He had placed himself so that the bed now acted as a barrier between him and his mysterious kidnapper.

Peering cautiously over the mattress, Alfred saw that the figure was removing its (er, well, _his_) cloak, Which he then hung on a hook on the wall near the... door? What? What was going on? Where did the door go? It was just there a second ago! Alfred's thoughts were interrupted by a chair that gently floated from near the desk, right by the bed, toward the figure of his abductor, who then dropped a wicker basket full of, (leaves?) onto it. Levitating chairs? Doors that appear and disappear at random? Was this... magic?

"Now..." began the figure (definitely male) "Let's see to our patient shall we?" He said as he turned around. It was only then did he notice Alfred's absence from the bed. A look of mild shock and bemusement came over the man's face. "Where did he go?" he said, more to himself than anyone else. He walked cautiously toward the bed, and then proceeded to rummage through the empty sheets, as if they would give him a clue to Alfred's whereabouts.

Alfred, meanwhile, was squatting on the other side of the (thankfully) large bed, apparently unseen by this strange man. He was still trying to process what he had seen earlier. Yeah, he had heard of magic, but he'd never seen it, and therefore thought it was a load of...... Apparently that was not the case. Magic was real! And this weirdo could preform it. What, then, did that make him? A.... male witch? No, there was a name for that... what was it? Never mind. Was this guy even human? He might be some monster in disguise, just waiting to kill him, or eat him, or... worse. Well, Alfred wasn't a girl so he supposed he didn't have to worry about that... but then again, Francis had told him that guys could do things like that too. Alfred flushed a deep shade of red at the thought. No! He wouldn't be taken advantage of by this... male witch!

Grabbing the closest thing that he could find (which happened to be a shoe) Alfred leapt up from beside the bed. Getting his first good look at the fiend, Alfred only had time to note the look of utter shock that the marred the man's bright green eyes (beneath a pair of ENORMOUS eyebrows) before he sprang into action. (Looking back on it later, Alfred would admit that his plan, or lack thereof, was probably not the best in the world.)

_**"Stay away from my vital regions, witch-boy!"**_ he shouted as the lobbed the shoe at his (potential) attacker's head.

This probably would have been effective against a normal person, but the...male witch... was no average mortal. He had erected a magic shield against himself from the moment that he noticed his charge was missing. Just in case was not the rational type. Which, apparently, was the case. As such, the shoe hit the barrier, bounced off of it, and hit the wall with a soft "thuwmp".

Alfred was surprised at the ineffectiveness of his attack. (Which he really shouldn't have been...) "Damn magic." he cursed inwardly. Seeing no other options, he darted around the bed, and headed to window. Since the door was apparently controlled by magic, it seemed the only escape route left.

He grabbed at the curtains, flinging them wide open. He then proceeded to look for some way to get the window open, but soon realized that all the panes were fixed in place by iron frame work. Frantically, he began to search for some other way out. The fireplace? A bit risky... He could maybe smash the window open. He had always been freakishly strong.... and....

"I wouldn't try to get out that way, if I were you." the 'male witch' said.

"You can't keep me in here!" Alfred shouted at him with what he hoped was a threatening glare. He was, admittedly, a bit afraid of this... Warlock! That was the term. But at least he wasn't a ghost.

"I'm not trying to keep you in here." the warlock with the large eyebrows Alfred had ever seen said in a rather pompous tone as he crossed his arms. What? _He_ was going to give Alfred slack after _he_ had kidnapped him? "Just look out the window."

Sending the large-eyebrowed warlock an incredulous glare, Alfred turned slightly back to the window to see just what he was talking about. Upon looking out of it, Alfred saw sky.

"So what?" he said. "It's just a buncha clouds! Now let me GO!" he said with gusto.

The eyebrows (seriously, how were they THAT big?) sighed. "Look down, you tosser."

Alfred did as he was told, and peered out of the window, looking toward the ground. He was meet by the sight of hundreds of treetops, stretching out for miles, and in the distance, he could see a town, a town behind a wall...

"No..." Alfred said in a voice so small that is was barely heard. "That's... impossible... we're..." he trailed off. But he didn't have to finish his sentence. Where else would provide such a view but....

"Atop the tower. Yes." said the man. " Now, if you'd be so kind as to sit down, I'll check you for injuries and send you on your way." He motioned to the chair that was now levitating again, this time toward Alfred.

Alfred glared at him. No way did he trust this guy, but he had said that he'd let him go. And really, he hadn't done anything to Alfred. Hell, he had brought him into his house (the tower) and let him lie in his bed after Alfred had -fainted- -passed out- conveniently decided to take a nap on his front door step. The chair had stopped and came to a rest next to Alfred. Who eyed it like it would eat him at any minute. (And for all he knew, it would.) Finally, he sat down stiffly, never once looking at his strange host.

Heaving a great sigh, _like an old man_, Alfred thought, the warlock slowly made his way over to where Alfred sat. All the while he was gesturing with his long, slim fingers and muttering things in a language Alfred didn't understand. In response to his musings, several objects flew off of shelves into the Warlock's hands or simply floated in a orbit around him.

Alfred stared, mouth agape. How this man could move things without touching them, make furniture levitate and doors come and go was way beyond Alfred's comprehension. It was all rather impressive, in a bizarre way. Seeing this strange man move his fingers like the conductor and seeing these objects respond like some silent, bizarre orchestra was truly a sight to behold. It was something that he was sure that he would never forget in all his years.

The warlock bent down on one knee in front of Alfred, sending him a look that said "don't cause a fuss" from under his rather long eyelashes. Alfred sent him a look back that he hoped conveyed "I won't if you won't, buddy." Seemingly satisfied, the warlock began to inspect Alfred with some bizarre instruments, colored rocks, and incense. Alfred thought the whole thing was a bit hockey, but he let the warlock do as he pleased, seeing as how he really had no other options. Alfred let his gaze wander out of the window, which was now being pelted by soft raindrops, a precursor for the heavier rain the would soon come.

After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Alfred attempted to speak. "So... er, I uh..." he trailed off. He had no idea what to say to this man. This man who was now checking him for injuries after Alfred had screamed in his face, fainted on his door step and slept it off in his bed. The warlock paused in his work to stare at Alfred, which only served to make him all that more uncomfortable. _His eyes are so... green... _Alfred thought to himself.

"Arthur." The man said.

Alfred blinked a few times in confusion. "What?"

"Arthur. My- my name. It's... Arthur." he clarified, eyes looking down and away from Alfred's face, a light dusting of a blush on his cheeks.

Oh. His name. He was telling him his name. Alfred supposed that he should return the favor.

"Oh, I'm- uh... Alfred. Alfred Jones." a pause "Nice... nice to, uh, meet you." Alfred said in response, stuttering like an idiot. Really, why was he getting a flustered?

The warlock, Arthur, looked up at him. A small smile on his face. Wow, Alfred thought. He's really... kinda... cute... NO. No, he did not just think that of this man.

"It's nice to meet you too." Arthur said in a voice so sweet that Alfred thought that he imagined it. Especially since he followed it with: "I- I mean! You git! What did you think you were doing, fainting in front of of my house like that! Do yo have any idea how much trouble you caused me?" Arthur shouted as he stood up.

"Cause YOU trouble? You nearly scared me to death with that magic stuff! I-" Alfred stopped mid-rant as he finally began to process what Arthur had said. "Wait... your house?"

"Yes, my house, you uncultured sod. It's where I live." Arthur said, malice dripping from every syllable.

Alfred's brain tried desperately to catch up with the events of the past few minutes. So if he was in the tower, which was also this Arthur guy's house... then...

"You're the ghost!?!" Alfred cried.

Arthur recalled a bit at Alfred's outburst, but swiftly countered with, "What are you talking about you silly sod? I'm no ghost!"

Relief washed over Alfred. "Oh thank god." he sighed. But then quickly remembered Arthur's magical abilities. "So... that makes you a witch, then?"

Arthur's face went from dumbfounded shock to complete rage in about three seconds flat.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? WITCH? DON'T BE DAFT! I'M A WIZARD YOU GIT! **A WIZARD**!!!!!"

Alfred was literally blown back into the chair at Arthur's outburst. After his head stopped ringing, he hesitantly stood up, to the sight of Arthur fuming, hands clenched at his sids.

Regaining his composure, Alfred stepped back in the preverbal ring. "Well sorrrr-ie for not knowing the difference! All I know is that I wandered into this forest, toward the supposedly haunted tower, and I find you. What else was I supposed it think, with all the legends about this tower!"

Arthur seemed to calm down a bit, because he resumed his arms-crossed I-know-more-than-you-do-so-there pose. "Oh, and prat tell, just what are these legends exactly?" he asked, a wide smirk on his face.

"Well..." Alfred began. "They're..." he paused. He'd never had to explain this to anyone. Everyone just knew about the tower. It was like trying to explain to someone why the sky was blue! It... just was.

"Some people say that an evil witch lives here and seduces young men into the tower so she can feast on their youth!" A bit embellished, but oh well...

"Bollocks. I'm the only magic user who lives here. The only one for miles, in fact."

"Er... then.. the ghost... of an evil King..."

"Oh, do you mean the General? He's harmless. A bit cold, if you ask me. But harmless. He mostly keeps to himself in the northern mountains anyway." Arthur replied, nonchalantly.

"But, but... there was a boy who disappeared! He went into the forest and never came out!"

"Oh," Arthur said , completely unfazed, "That was me, I suppose."

"What?" Alfred gaped at him

"I entered this forest when I was very little. I got lost, but the spirits of the forest took pity on me and lead me to this place." Arthur explained. "I learned magic from them and they kept me company. "

"But... but... that was nearly a hundred years ago!"

At this, Arthur looked very saddened. He turned his gaze away from Alfred and looked out the window, into the rain. "Yes. Time... flows differently in this forest. By the time I was old enough to make my way back to the village, nearly fifty years had passed. My parents had both died, and my brothers moved away. So I came back here, content to live here indefinitely with my forest friends, in this tower."

Alfred was struck by the profound sadness of Arthur's situation. He felt pity for Arthur, but also guilt. He took his parents and brother for granted, shirking off his chores, and generally disrespecting them. Arthur had to live in complete solitude for decades, while his family assumed that he was dead. And when he was finally able to return, there was no one left for him to return to.

He looked at Arthur, really looked at him for the first time. What he saw was not a grumpy wizard, or an eccentric hermit, nor a pair of enormous eyebrows. What he saw was a boy his own age, a boy who was all alone in the world. Who just missed his family, and, Alfred thought, who probably just wanted a friend.

"OK!" Alfred shouted, snapping Arthur out of his reserve. "I've made up my mind! I've decided that, from here on out, I'll be your friend!" He ended his statement by flashing Arthur his best, most heroic smile.

For the longest time, Arthur just stared at him, a surprised expression on his face. Alfred became concerned after a good thirty seconds had passed and no reaction had come from Arthur. Then, out of no where, Arthur burst out laughing. It was a great whopping laughter, that Alfred never would have thought could come come out of the frumpy shorter man. Arthur was almost doubled over with laugher, holding his sides while the corners of his eyes began to water.

Alfred wasn't sure weather to be put off or glad at this reaction, so he opted for the latter. He was a glass half-full kinda guy. So he began to laugh as well. And soon their laughter resounded in the chamber, echoing off the bare stone walls.

Eventually, though, Arthur calmed himself and gradually ceased his laughing. "Ah, oh- I'm sorry. I just... that was so unexpected... and you sounded so serious. Oh, you really had me going for a moment." He said, wiping his eyes.

Alfred looked at him quizzically, his own laughter having stopped. "But..." he said earnestly "I was serious."

Arthur's head snapped up to stare at Alfred, his trademark scowl back on his face. "Oh come now, don't be daft. You can't expect me to believe you."

"Yeah, I can. I'm totally serious. I want to be your friend." and he did. Something about Arthur made Alfred want to protect him. Maybe it was his lonely smile, or sad past, but Alfred thought the main reason was probably because he was locked away in this tall tower, like a princess from a fairy tale. And Alfred always had to be the hero. He may never get a better opportunity than this! But he would never tell Arthur that. He wanted to keep his limbs, thank you.

"Why on earth would I want an idiot who screams in my face and generally causes me all kinds of problems for a friend." Alfred winced at that. "No, It's... I'm better off on my own." Arthur finished hurriedly. "And now, It's time you went home. I can't have any more rumours spreading about me." he said with an ironic smile.

"Huh? Wait! You can't just send me home! Not after I just decided that we'd be friends! I-"

"That's just it!" Arthur snapped "YOU decided that we'd be friends. YOU disrupted my perfectly peaceful and happy solitude. And now YOU'RE going to leave before you can cause me any more problems with your constant shenanigans."

"But!" Alfred began, but never got to finish what he was saying, because at that moment Arthur was on him, pressing his hand to his forehead and sighing "SLEEP~" in a voice that positively oozed warm blankets, soft mattresses, and down pillows. And Alfred found that he could no longer convince his eyelids to remain open. So, for the second time, Alfred lost consciousness because of Arthur's influence.

* * *

A/N: Arthur's faerie's names; Peck, Shad, Kensi, Isling, and Chels are all shortened place names in and around London. (Peckham, Shadwell, Kensington, Islington, and Chelsea.) They have no real connection to Hetalia, they were just thrown in there for the sake of the plot.

Also, my computer keeps telling me that 'colour' is spelled wrong.


	3. Arthur's Perspective

Title: 'The Tower' - Chapter 2.5 (In which we get to see events from Arthur's perspective)

Genere: AU, romance, adventure

Pairing: USxUK

Rating: Somewhere between PG and PG-13

Warnings (for this chapter): Major angst in the beginning. Poor Artie...

Summary: Arthur is a lonely wizard who's locked himself away in a tower. At the goading of his friends, Alfred breaks into the tower, only to find said very (adorably) grumpy wizard.

'The Tower' - Chapter 2.5

(In Which We Get To See Events From Arthur's Perspective)

Arthur's morning began like any other. Wake, dress, eat, gather herbs for the day's potion making, use said herbs in the day's potion making, cast a hex to keep the rodents out of his rose garden, a light lunch with tea. Yes, It was another beautiful start to another beautiful day in his ever-so solitary life.

Not that he was complaining, mind you. He knew that he was lucky. Luckier than most. He had lived twice as long as the average lifespan of a human, thanks to his magic, and his faye friends. He led a peaceful, easy life. He did not have to preform hard labour, or work the land (save for his rose garden, but that was a hobby). He had copious amounts of free time that he used to study, practice his magic, and improve existing spells.

Yes, Arthur's life was a walk in the park (or forest, as it were), and he knew it. But that did not stop him from feeling lonely. He had neither seen nor spoken to another human for nearly forty years. His faye kept him company, and had for the majority of his life, but he still longed for something.... more. He did not know what was missing, only that it was, and it frustrated him to no end.

To call Arthur clever would be a severe understatement. He was, simply put, a genius. His innovative spells and magic theories revolutionized that way people had thought of magic. It had always been that when Arthur did not know the answer to a question, he would look up the information he needed in one of his dusty tomes. Or, if the answer did not reside there, he would simply go forth and find it out for himself. So when this nagging sensation came upon him, constantly reminding him that SOMETHING was missing, it nearly drove Arthur mad with frustration. He was Arthur of Salisbury! No answer eluded his grasp! None, it seemed, but this one.

Even as a babe, Arthur's magic had been impressive. Before he could even walk, he was enchanting his crib to sway by itself, to rock him to sleep. He conjured small glowing balls of light to ward away the dark. His parents were awed and terrified of his powers. His brothers bullied him constantly, their fear and ignorance driving their actions. And so, one day, at the tender age of 5, he simply walked away. He headed into the forest, his only thought to escape the world that did not understand him.

At the time, Arthur's magic was powerful to be sure, but raw and untrained. He often had trouble controlling it, and had no comprehension of the intricate spells and rituals that would be needed to hone his skills. Luckily, he was found by the few beings in the world that did. His faye friends found him, lost, alone and scared in the woods. They took him in, taught him the ways of the old folk. Taught him the language of the trees and flowers, so that he could better communicate with them. They showed him how to bend objects to his will, and people as well, (but that was darker magic.) They taught him everything that they knew, and Arthur was grateful to them. He called them his family.

Arthur grew fast, or so it seemed to him. In reality though, what was for him ten years, was nearly fifty for the outside world. When he one again ventured into his hometown, determined to show off his powers to his unappreciative parents, and his bully brothers, he found his childhood home gone, replaced with a tailor's shop and an inn. He went into the Inn, asked around, inquiring as to the whereabouts of the Kirkland family. The Inn-keep gave a bark of a laugh in reply, saying that the Kirklands had long since moved away. All three brothers had left Salisbury years ago to make their fortunes. Their parents now resided where they had for the past twenty years, in the town's cemetery.

Arthur felt an emotion that he had not felt in a long time, perhaps ever. Regret. He bolted out of the Inn, knocking a few people out of the way as he ran, fast as his legs would carry him, to the graveyard. When he arrived, panting, he immediately scanned the names on the tombstones. Kirkland, Kirkland, Kirk- and there it was. He slowly, numbly, made his way over to his parent's grave. His knees gave out just as he reached it. He looked at the names inscribed onto the thick slabs of stone, but found it difficult to see though the tears that had formed in his eyes. Yes, these were surely his parents graves. He reached a trembling hand out, to caress his parent's names, etched forever in the stone.

He had resented his parents, perhaps even hated them at times, but he had never once wished them dead. Arthur wept openly, cradling his head in his hands, resting on the ground that held his parents remains. After a good long cry, Arthur lifted his head, and took an good look at his parent's tombstones again. The Inn-keep had said that they had been dead for twenty years, but how could that be? Arthur hadn't been gone for that long, had he? For the first time, he noticed the dates on the stones, and did the math in his head. Fifty years? Head he relay been gone for fifty years?

As Arthur stood to get to the bottom of this mystery, he noticed a smaller gravestone next to his parent's. It was even older than theirs. He brushed away the moss covering the name, and immediately pulled his hand back, as if bitten. There, in the graveyard, next to his parent's tombstones, was a small, worn grave marker with _his_ name on it. The date written for his death was just shortly after he had left. They must have pronounced him dead when he didn't return. How must his parents have felt? To lose a child and not even have a body to bury? Feeling completely numb, Arthur stood and slowly retreated to the safety of his forest. It was all too much for him to handle.

His faye met him at the edge of the trees. Kensi was the first to speak. "Arthur?" she queried "Are you all right? You look as if you've seen a ghost...."

Arthur's composure broke at her mention of ghosts. He let out a choked sob, and his face contorted into an expression of pain. But only briefly. His face then took on an expression that his faye had never seen on his face before. It was as if Arthur had placed a cold mask over his face.

"I will never again care for another human." He vowed. "It only brings pain. You five are all that I need." with this, he brushed past his faerie friends, and headed toward his tower. The faye looked at each other, concern filling their small eyes, as they followed after Arthur.

And so arthur locked himself away in his solitary tower, conversing with the flowers and trees, bending objects to his will, and perfecting his magic, all alone in his dark, dusty tower. He even put a hex around the tower so that none would come near.

That is, until one morning, when Arthur's quiet routine was rather rudely disrupted. Wake, dress, eat, gather herbs for the day's potion making, get shouted at by some obnoxious young man who then fainted on his door step, ah- wait..... WHAT?

Arthur stared down at the unconscious form of the young man who had so rudely interrupted his daily ritual. The nerve of him. Not to mention he gave Arthur a right good fright. Very rude indeed.

Arthur saw Kensi flicker into his vision out of the corner of his eye. With a flourish, she landed gracefully on his shoulder. "Well, who is he Kensi?" he asked, his tone a bit sharp from his previous fright.

"I don't know." his small faye guardian replied, "He wandered in from the direction of Salisbury. He seems harmless enough. Well, mostly harmless. A real nutter, though. He kept mumbling to himself about ghosts, and witches, and curses."

Arthur's ears perked up. If this boy was going on about ghosts and curses, he might be another magic user. Though, he really didn't look like any magic user he'd ever seen. Then again, his faye and himself were the only magic users that he'd really ever seen. "Really? Do you think he has the sight?" he asked, trying to keep the hope out of his voice.

"I dunno. He never noticed me the whole time I was following him." Kensi replied, her faint yellow glow fading in and out.

"Hmm..." Arthur uttered as he thought to himself. He then bent down on one knee beside the unconscious figure of the stranger, (who was mumbling something about ghosts). He stared down at the boy's (lightly snoring) form. Really, he was quite a handsome young man, but he was dressed in a manner befitting a middle class brat, rather than a great magic user. But still, how had he gotten this far into the forest? The repellant hex he put up was supposed to keep people form getting this close to the tower. Which meant that he was either an insanely powerful wizard, or a first class....

"Git." Arthur said aloud.

"Wha'd you say Arthur? I couldn't quite hear you." Kensi said, fluttering closer to Arthur's face.

Arthur flushed, "Wah- I- I...uh, didn't say anything! Just muttering to myself." He quickly covered. "Anyway, could you gather the others? I want your opinion on what we should do with this..." he flicked the boy's nose "idiot."

Kensi giggled. "Sure thing. I'll go get them straight away." she said before fluttering away to find her kin.

Arthur's attention returned to the unconscious lump before him. He was torn. Helping this boy would go against his solitary nature. But at the same time, he didn't want to just leave him in the middle of the forest. And his natural curiosity was getting the better of him. He wanted to know how this intruder had made it past all of his defenses to the very heart of the forest.

"Arthur?" a small voice said, snapping him out of his reserve. Chels was hovering just above his head, the other faye slowly fluttering over towards him. Arthur stood, and addressed his long time friends.

"Well, what do you all think we should do with this young lad?" Arthur questioned.

"Pttf. Who cares? Just dump him over the wall!" said Peck angrily. He did not appreciate his mid-morning nap being interrupted by questions about big, dumb, unconscious intruders.

"Tha- that wouldn't be very nice..." Chels said, in an almost-too-quiet tone.

"What doest it, like, even matter? Just do whatever with him." Isling scoffed while crossing her small, dainty arms.

Shad, the green one, said nothing. Just fluttered over toward the boy's sleeping form and began to nibble on a lock of his hair that was sticking up from his forehead. Said boy's only response was to grunt and roll over, dislodging Shad, who tumbled through the air a bit before regaining his composure.

"Well," Arthur began "I suppose we can't just leave him on my doorstep." He paused, taking one last good look at the boy. "I guess I'll just have to take him inside..." Arthur said, allowing his curiosity to overtake him. He _would_ get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding this boy.

Peck groaned. "Ugh, whatever! I got woken up for this!?!" he grumbled as he hastily flew off. Isling cast an irritated glare in the sleeping boy's direction and followed Peck.

Shad also flew off, but in far less of a huff, more of a daze, really. Chels and Kensi flew in graceful spirals toward Arthur.

"Don't worry, Arthur." Kensi started. "We'll help you with this lump." She coked her thumb over her shoulder in the intruder's direction.

"Ye- yeah. We can't just leave him lying there." Chels said, fidgeting uncomfortably in the air.

Arthur smiled, one of his rare, genuine smiles. "Thank you, ladies. I honestly don't know what I'd do without you."

After a bit of maneuvering, and a few well placed spells on Arthur's part, they had finally got the dead weight of the boy's body through the door and into Arthur's bed. Arthur quickly apraised the sleeping intruder, and made a mental list of what herbs he'd need to collect (which was what he was about to do, before this great lump interrupted his daily routine...). He then summoned the door (a very clever spell on his part. A combination of a teleportation spell and a displacement spell. The door appears at his command, and leads form the ground below, to the only room in the tower at the top.)

Grabbing the old, wrought iron handle, Arthur cast one last glance at the sleeping form of the intruder. He supposed that he'd just have to question the boy when he woke. Sighing, he pulled the door and stepped outside to resume his routine.

Once the needed herbs had been collected, (Peck was not happy about being woken up _again_) Arthur returned to his abode at the top of the tower expecting to find the idiotic (Arthur had never actually spoken to the intruder, so he was unsure if he was actually idiotic or not, but he decided to go with his gut feeling and just assume that a person who screams in your face and faints dead away was, in fact, an idiot...) lump just where he had left him. Imagine his surprise when, upon depositing his herb basket on his desk chair, he found the boy gone.

"Where did he go?" Arthur mused aloud. The lad couldn't have gotten far. He cast a magic shield around himself, just in case the boy was disturbed mentally. You could never bee too careful. He made sure to retract the door as he left. And really, there weren't all that many places to hide in his room. He walked over to the bed and rummaged about the sheets, wondering if Peck had decided to perhaps shrink the poor lad in a misplaced form of revenge. It wouldn't have been the first time...

_**"Stay away from my vital regions, witch-boy!" **_Arthur's head shot up. Eyes wide with shock (not terror, mind you, just shock), Arthur watched as the boy leapt up from the other side of the bed (the next place he would have looked, obviously) and proceed to throw one of Arthur's good hiking shoes at his head.

The shoe rebounded harmlessly off of his barrier, as he knew it would. Upon seeing the futility of his attack, the boy's eyes darted around the room, presumably looking for some other weapon, or perhaps an escape route. His eyes stopped on the window, (_A poor choice... _Arthur thought inwardly) and darted around the bed to the window. He threw open the curtains and then seemed to realize that the window could not be opened. He still appeared to be contemplating this route, however, so Arthur felt the need to enlighten him on its dangers.

"I wouldn't try to get out that way, if I were you." he said.

"You can't keep me in here!" the boy shouted in rebuttal. He shot Arthur a glare, trying to be intimidating though his knees were shaking. He probably would have felt pity for the boy, if he wasn't still irked form having a shoe thrown at his head.

"I'm not trying to keep you in here." he told him while crossing his arms. Really, why on earth would Arthur _want_ to keep this idiot in his home any longer than was necessary? "Just look out the window." The boy shot him a look, and turned to glance out the window.

"So what?" he said. "It's just a buncha clouds! Now let me GO!" God, how _thick_ was this boy?

Arthur heaved a sigh. It was almost painful to talk to this young man. His initial assessment of him was correct. He really was a first class idiot. Arthur was a bit disappointed. He was so hoping that he'd be another magic user. Ah, well. It wouldn't be the first time his hopes were crushed. "Look down, you tosser." he ever-so-politely informed the boy.

The boy shot him another glare, and did as he was told. His face then seemed to loose all colour, and it looked as if he had just swallowed something foul. "No..." the boy said "That's... impossible... we're..."

"Atop the tower. Yes." Arthur said, in a tone that he would use if he was talking to a child. " Now, if you'd be so kind as to sit down, I'll check you for injuries and send you on your way." Arthur said as he magicked his desk chair toward the boy. The young man eyed the chair like it was some kind of demon, but eventually sat down. Arthur sighed once again. The faster he got this boy out of his hair, the faster he could go back to his (boring, unsatisfactory, lonely) routine.

He made his way slowly toward the boy all the while muttering small incantations that summoned the objects that he'd need off of their places on his shelves. He chanced a glance at the boy and saw this his eyes were wide and his mouth was hanging slightly open in a look of pure amazement. _He really is like a child_, Arthur thought.

He then bent down in front of the boy and sent him a look from under his eyelashes that he hoped conveyed "don't make a fuss". The young man glared back at him over his nose with a look that seemed to understand. Arthur then began to examine the young man with his instruments. (Which was probably unnecessary, as the boy appeared fine, but one could never be too cautious.) Arthur faintly registered the sound of raindrops hitting the glass panes of his window.

It was during this interlude that his faye friends fluttered inside to escape the oncoming rain storm.

"MAN! It's really starting to come down!" Peck shouted after phasing through the wall. (_How nice to be a faye and not have to use door_, Arthur thought.) Peck then stopped dead in mid-flight, causing Shad to bump into him, and stared at the sight before him.

"Wha-" he started, but was cut off by Kensi and Chels's hands clamping around his mouth.

"So... er, I uh..." the young man started, but trailed off. Arthur looked up from his work to stare at him._ God lord, his eyes are blue. _Arthur mused to himself._ Bluer than the very sky..._

"Don't be rude to your guest Arthur!" Kensi shouted. "Introduce yourself!"

"Arthur." he said, trying not to sound too standoffish.

The boy blinked a few times, as if his brain had trouble processing this information. "What?" he asked.

"Arthur. My- my name. It's... Arthur." he clarified. Really how was this boy so dense and _how were his eyes that blue_? He had to avert his eyes, but felt his cheeks flush. Strange. Was he coming down with a fever?

"Oh, I'm- uh... Alfred. Alfred Jones." a pause "Nice... nice to, uh, meet you." the boy, Alfred (what a lovely name...) offered. Alfred seemed to be flustered as well. Was there some kind of sickness going around? Regardless, this idiotic boy, Alfred, was the first person that he had had a conversation with in... he couldn't even remember how long. A small smile crept across Arthur's features. Perhaps... this is what he had been missing? Companionship?

"It's nice too meet you too." Arthur said, and genuinely meant it. Despite all that this idiot had put him through, he was glad to be talking with him.

But just at that moment, Peck broke free from Kensi and Chels, and so tactfully shouted: "Arthur and Alfred sitting in a tree~"

Arthur's hair bristled, and he stood up shouting "I- I mean! You git! What did you think you were doing, fainting in front of of my house like that! Do yo have any idea how much trouble you caused me?" Good cover. Couldn't let Peck think that he'd gone soft...

"Cause YOU trouble? You nearly scared me to death with that magic stuff! I-" Alfred stopped mid-rant, and Arthur could see the cogs in his mind turning something over. "Wait... your house?"

"Yes, my house, you uncultured sod. It's where I live." Arthur said, malice dripping from every syllable.

Alfred stared at the floor, apparently working something out with that, big, dumb, idiotic, (all-too-good-looking) head of his. Peck was decidedly NOT helping, as he continually taunted Arthur. (K~I~S~S~I~N~G) But his attention was pried away form Peck (and thoughts of how he could exact his revenge) when Alfred shouted.

"You're the ghost!?!" Alfred cried.

Ghost? What on earth is he on about now? "What are you talking about you silly sod? I'm no ghost!"

"Oh thank god." Alfred sighed, but then sent Arthur a quizzical glare. "So... that makes you a witch, then?"

Witch? WITHCH? Arthur Kirkland was certainly no WITCH! How impossibly THICK could this idiot BE!?!?!?!?!

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? WITCH? DON'T BE DAFT! I'M A WIZARD YOU GIT! **A WIZARD**!!!!!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

The boy reeled for a few moments, before regaining his composure. He then squared his shoulders for the second round of their verbal bout. "Well sorrrr-ie for not knowing the difference! All I know is that I wandered into this forest, toward the supposedly haunted tower, and I find you. What else was I supposed it think, with all the legends about this tower!"

Legends? Arthur's interest was piqued. He resumed his arms-crossed stance. This should prove interesting. He had always wondered what mythos people had come up for his tower. "Oh, and pray tell, just what are these legends exactly?" he queried.

"Well..." Alfred began. "They're..." he stopped. He brought his index finger up to his lips and began fidegiting. It was obvious that this idiot was having trouble coming up with a suitable answer. Suddenly, he declaired...

"Some people say that an evil witch lives here and seduces young men into the tower so she can feast on their youth!"

"Bollocks." Arthur said, "I'm the only magic user who lives here. The only one for miles, in fact."

"Er... then.. the ghost... of an evil King..."

"Oh, do you mean the General? He's harmless. A bit cold, if you ask me. But harmless. He mostly keeps to himself in the northern mountains anyway." Arthur replied, nonchalantly.

Arthur could tell that Alfred was getting desperate now. "But, but... there was a boy who disappeared! He went into the forest and never came out!" Alfred half-shouted at him. Well, that certainly sounded familiar.

"Oh," Arthur said , trying to hide his discomfort, "That was me, I suppose."

"What?" Alfred gaped at him.

"I entered this forest when I was very little. I got lost, but the spirits of the forest took pity on me and lead me to this place." Arthur explained. "I learned magic from them and they kept me company. " That was... more or less the truth.

"But... but... that was nearly a hundred years ago!"

"Yes. Time... flows differently in this forest. By the time I was old enough to make my way back to the village, nearly fifty years had passed. My parents had both died, and my brothers moved away. So I came back here, content to live here indefinitely with my forest friends, in this tower."

Why was he telling this git all of this? He'd never told anyone any of this! (Probably because he never got out to actually _talk_ to anyone... But still!) Why this boy? This stupid, idiotic, pain-in-the-arse boy? Why would he tell him any of this? And why would this idiot care anyway? And why did his face feel so warm? And was he getting a bit lightheaded? Great, now this idiot's idiocy was rubbing off on him!

"OK!" Alfred shouted, snapping Arthur out of his reserve. "I've made up my mind! I've decided that, from here on out, I'll be your friend!"

WHAT? This git... wanted to be his friend? Why the mere thought was enough to make Arthur... And he did. He burst out laughing. The absurdity of the situation was simply too much for him to deal with. The first human he sees in years screams in his face, faints on his doorstep, recuperates in his bed, and now is making declarations that he was going to be his friend? It was all too much.

Then, much to Arthur's surprise, the idiot was laughing too! Which only made Arthur laugh harder, and so forth and so on, until they finally -finally- calmed down.

"Ah, oh- I'm sorry. I just... that was so unexpected... and you sounded so serious. Oh, you really had me going for a moment." He said, wiping his eyes.

Alfred looked at him quizzically, his own laughter having stopped. "But..." he said, "I was serious."

"Oh come now, don't be daft. You can't expect me to believe you." Arthur countered. Really, the gaul of this boy...

"Yeah, I can. I'm totally serious. I want to be your friend." Alfred responded.

_Well, he does look like he's serious. _Arthur thought. Perhaps... perhaps, having a friend wouldn't be so bad... perhaps, that's what he'd been missing. Arthur took a good look at the boy, his fist good look of him. His face was set in a look of absolute determination, and his blue eyes shone with such honesty that... maybe...

NO! No! He would not get sucked in by this moron! Even if he was being honest, (which, in all likelihood, he wasn't) caring for this person would only lead to more tears. He thought back to his parent's tombstones, to all the people he had known, now dead. Even if this boy was honest in his intentions, Arthur would outlive him by at least a century, probably longer. No, it was better to not get involved in the first place, than to be hurt by this dolt later on. So he did the only thing he really knew how to do when dealing with people...

"Why on earth would I want an idiot who screams in my face and generally causes me all kinds of problems for a friend?" Alfred winced at that. "No, It's... I'm better off on my own."

_...he drove him away._

"And now, It's time you went home. I can't have any more rumours spreading about me." he finished.

"Huh? Wait! You can't just send me home! Not after I just decided that we'd be friends! I-"

"That's just it!" Arthur snapped. He'd had enough of this young man and his blue eyes and his honest smile. "YOU decided that we'd be friends. YOU disrupted my perfectly peaceful and happy solitude. And now YOU'RE going to leave before you can cause me any more problems with your constant shenanigans!"

"But!" the boy began to protest, but Arthur immediately silenced him with a sleeping spell. Alfred fell to the floor, unconscious yet again.

"Was that really necessary Arthur?" Kensi asked.

He shot her a glare. "Of course it was!" he snapped at her, "I... I can't have this idiot mucking about around here! What if he brings others? You know how important the tower is! To me, to... everything! I'm not going to jeopardize all of that just because this idiot" Arthur gave Alfred's sleeping form a small kick with his foot, "wants to be my 'friend'!"

Kensi recoiled slightly from Arthur's outburst. Chels sent her a symphonic look. "But, Arthur," she began tentatively, "You're so lonely..." she finished in a voice so small, she wasn't sure if Arthur had heard her.

Arthur stood looking out of the window into the downpour outside. After a few tense moments, he moved abruptly to his writing desk, and opened a large book filled with spells that he had been perfecting. He called over his shoulder, "Just... go dump that lump over the wall, would you?"

The faye in the room looked at his form, hunched over in his chair, scribbling away, before finally doing what they were asked. They levitated Alfred's body out of the tower, through the forest, before depositing him over the wall. Morosely, they made their way back into the forest. Well, all but Peck, who stayed behind to make sure that Alfred was found. That, or simply nibble at his hair some more....

Lame ending is lame. This chapter was a nightmare! I highly doubt that I'll do another re-cap chapter from Artie's perspective again. It was kind of a pain in the ass. I didn't think I'd be as hard as it was. But whatever. I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for sticking with me over my gigantic hiatus. Chapter 3 is currently underway, and I'll hopefully have it up in a while. (A week or so?)

I'd also like to apologize for the angst at the beginning of the chapter. No idea how that snuck in there. *shrugs shoulders* Honestly, I debated even putting this chapter up at all, but after all the work that I put into it, I didn't want to just trash it. (It's so obscenely LONG!!!) So, I suppose, you could ignore it if you so chose, in the grand scheme of things. It makes me sad that I put so much of work into it and it's not even all that good! *cries into pillow*

I'm going to go crawl into a sad corner and work on chapter 3....


	4. Chapter 3

The Tower - Ch. 3

When Alfred awoke again, he could not remember who he was, or even where he was. The only thing that his brain registered was the fact that he was surrounded by warm blankets. Then, ever so slowly, he began to become increasingly more aware of himself. He first registered his bladder's insistent need to relieve itself. Then he gathered the vague notion that he had been talking to a huge pair of magical eyebrows...

Alfred sat bolt upright in his bed, alarming his poor concerned brother, who was sleeping soundly in a chair in the corner of the room.

"Ah-Al?" Matthew looked at him groggily. "Alfred! You're alright!" Matthew cried as he threw his arms around his brother. "Oh, thank god! I was so worried! You went into the forest and were gone so long!" his brother was on the verge of tears.

Alfred just stared at him. He was beyond confused. Was the tower just a dream? Had he really met Arthur? Did he just have too much to drink at the village's harvest festival again?

"Oh, Alfred!" Matthew began. "I'm sorry, eh. I'll never make you do something that risky again! I was sure you'd chicken out before you even got over the wall! But when you didn't come back after a few days, I-" Days? Alfred had only been gone an afternoon!

"What are you talking about Mattie?" Alfred said, using his beloved brother's nickname in an attempt to calm him down. "I was only gone an afternoon at most, or did I really sleep that long?" he laughed heartily, but then stopped once he saw his brother's expression.

"A-Alfred," Matthew began, staring at his brother as if he was unsure of his sanity, "You were gone almost a week...."

"A week?" he questioned, tasting the word on his tongue. A WEEK!?!?! No, that.... couldn't be. Could it? Alfred muttered to himself.

What was going on? Even with all the sleeping that he had done, Alfred was sure that he couldn't have been gone for more than a few hours, a day at most! And yet, here was his brother, claiming that he had been gone a week. Was this some of Arthur's weird magic? Wait, come to think of it, hadn't Arthur said something about the flow of time in the forest? So, did that mean, that what for him was only a few hours in the forest, was days in the village? Is that how Arthur stayed so young? What exactly was going on?

Alfred was beyond confused. His mind raced with thousands of thoughs, many of which made no sene at all to him. But one in particular stood out to him. Arthur's still out there, all alone. What kind of hero would I be if I didn't fulfill my promise to be his friend?

Alfred stared at his brother. "I'm sorry Mattie." he said, "I... don't know what happened... I guess I was more lost than I thought.... I... Sorry." He apologized, averting his gaze from his brother in favor of staring at the floor.

Matthew stared at Alfred for a long time, trying to judge his brother's rationality. Eventually, he let out a sigh, chalking this most recent scare as just another instance of Alfred being, well.... Alfred. "Alright," he began, Alfred looking up to see what his brother was about to say. "I guess, it's fine... since you're not hurt. But if you ever do anything like that again, don't expect me to worry about you." Matthew finished, trying to sound disappointed and indifferent.

Alfred's face lit up. "Aw, Mattie, you're the best!" he cried, throwing his arms around his brother's shoulders. Matthew was a bit taken aback by this over-the-top display of brotherly affection, but eventually softened and returned his brother's embrace. But of course the moment couldn't last.

Alfred pulled away first, grinning like a maniac. "You're the best Matt." he repeated.

Matthew sighed. "Just promise you won't do anything like that again, eh?"

Alfred managed to put a hurt expression on his face, like the very idea offended him. "Of course, Matt. No more stupid antics from me!"

A half an hour later, Alfred was trudging his way through the forest on the other side of the wall, trying to locate the tower again.

Ok, so he may have lied to his brother. A little. (Ok, maybe a whole lot...) But he had left him a note!

* * *

Matt,

I've gone off to see a friend. Be back in a few days.

Don't touch my stuff.

-Al

P.S.- I borrowed your hiking shoes. Bring em back later.

* * *

Yeah, that was perfect. No way Matt could worry now! Right?

Anyway, Alfred had much more important things on his mind than his brother! Arthur was still out there, all alone and helpless. (Or so Alfred had convinced himself.) What kind of hero goes back on his promise? Certainly no hero that Alfred ever wanted to be. Alfred was a true hero. A hero's hero, who would go out of his way to help frumpy century old wizards with their social lives!

Luckily [for the readers...], Alfred's hero rant was interrupted as he rather violently walked face first into the tower.

"Ow..." he cringed as he peeled himself off of the tower's outer wall. He furiously rubbed his nose, ignoring the tears forming in his eyes. He glanced up towards the top of the tower. Damn, it was a lot taller than he remembered.

But no matter. Alfred was determined. He had the whole thing planned out in his head:

The dashing hero would scale the tower. The damsel, Arthur, (who was in drag for this particular fantasy, frilly dress and wig included) would be awaiting him there, alone and afraid. "Oh, Alfred!" he'd cry, "Why ever did you leave me? I've been so lonely and helpless up here in my tower. But now that you're here, I can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Please let me bask in your awesome glow..." Then Arthur would swoon into his arms, he'd catapult himself through the window, and land on white stallion before galloping off into the sunset...

Oh yeah. That's totally how it would go down.

As soon as Alfred found a way up the tower...

Alfred eyed the base of the tower. No sign of the door. Arthur must have used his magic to hide it, or whatever he did with it, so that was out. He examined the stones that the tower was made of. They were a dark gray color, almost black, held together with some form of mortar. Alfred tried to grab onto them, wedging his fingers in between the crevices. No good. They were too tightly packed together. He would have admired the tower's engineering if he wasn't so pissed at it.

_Think, Alfred. You're the master at problem solving_. (Actually, this was slightly untrue. Alfred was only good at dealing with problems because he was too stubborn to give up on anything. Arthur will soon find himself victim to this very same phenomenon.)

Alfred glanced around, trying to assess the situation. He couldn't climb the tower with his hands, but perhaps there was something here that he could use- sticks! That was it! He'd wedge the sticks between the stones and climb up that way! Ha, he was such a genius.

Snatching up a few sticks, he tied a two of them to his shoes with some string that he just happened to have in his pocket, and grasped the other two firmly in his hands. It was in this (ridiculous) manner that he began his accent.

Meanwhile, atop the tower, Arthur was angst-ing over a spell that he just couldn't seem to get quite right. In fact, most of his spells and potions had been off lately. The fact that he still had a migraine from today's earlier encounter with his 'intruder' did nothing to help tings. He just couldn't seem to get that stupid lug's words out of his head.

_I'm going to be your friend!_ A bright smile.

_But... I was serious._ An ernest look.

Ridiculous. No one would want to be his friend. Arthur was nothing but a sour old man in a young body. He was perfectly fine alone in his tower with his potions and his faye folk. He didn't need that overgrown infant clinging to him and mucking up his peaceful existence. He had gotten along quite fine so far without him, and saw no need to change things.

_Except that things aren't fine. You're lonely...._ a nagging voice in the back of his mind reminded him. Poppycock! Arthur wasn't lonely! He was just fine. He was!

He tried to convince himself. He repeated it over and over in his head until he very nearly believed it. I'm fine. I'm alright. I'm not lonely in the slightest. I'm not!

Frustrated beyond belief, Arthur abandoned his work. No sense in continuing it in this state. He needed to relax. He threw on his cloak and summoned the door. Perhaps spending some quality time with his roses would help ease his mind.

But Arthur's luck had never been that good.

The moment he stepped out of his door into the late afternoon sun, he was met with faint grunts and muffled curses. Well, that was new. Where the hell were those sounds coming from? He glanced left, he glanced right, but could not find the source of the strange sounds. That is, until a small piece of mortar fell onto his head.

Where the hell had that come fro- OH DEAR LORD!!!

When Arthur looked up he was greeted by the sight of a large posterior attempting to climb the side of his tower. Wait, no, the posterior was attached to someone. A very persistent someone.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" he screeched. This caught the wannabe hero's attention.

"Oh hey Arthur!" he cheerily called, removing his hand from the stick he was using to climb (Really, a stick?) to wave at Arthur enthusiastically. This caused him to lose his balance, and he toppled backward.

Alfred was steadily making his way up the side of the tower. Ha! He knew the sticks had been a good idea. How awesome was he? Yep, just a few thousand more feet to go, and he'd be half way there!

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" he heard an irritated and familiar voice call to him.

Alfred looked down, and was greeted by the sight of a very frumpy wizard in his familiar cloak with his familiar scowl. Just the man he'd been hoping to see. Now he didn't have to climb this stupid tower. But how to get down? Oh well... he'd figure that out later.

"Oh hey Arthur!" he called down to him, flashing his best smile and waving in a friendly manner. _Don't want him to curse me with his magic, now do I?_ he thought. As he waved, he noticed that the tower seemed to be getting farther away, and that the ground was looking closer than it had just a moment ago. Then the sticks tied to his feet snapped.

_Crap._

He toppled back, and fell the ten or so feet to the ground below. [I never said he was very high…]

Ow. That hurt.

"I'll ask again, Just what the hell are you doing?" Alfred opened his eyes to see Arthur standing over him, hands on his hips and his brows furrowed into the deepest scowl that he'd ever seen.

"Oh, hey. I uh… ow. My ass is killing me… Hiya Arthur. What's up?" Alfred asked form flat on his back, grinning idiotically up at Arthur.

"Thankfully, not you." Arthur replied.

"Huh?"

"Nevermind, just answer my question! How the hell did you get out here?"

"Walked." Alfred replied, deadpan.

Arthur grinded his teeth together in frustration. "Of course you bloody well walked! What are you doing here?!?!?!" he fumed.

Even Alfred, the master of obtuseness, could sense that Arthur was becoming increasingly angry. And although he loved Arthur's frustrated expressions, (not cuz it made him look cute or anything) he thought it best not to anger such a powerful practitioner of magic.

Alfred sat up, and looked Arthur straight in the eye, in an attempt to convey his seriousness. "I came back to be your friend." He said as earnestly as possible.

Arthur pulled back, as if he was struck. "Wha- what? What on earth are you talking about?" he averted his eyes from Alfred's gaze.

Alfred took Arthur's hand in his in a gesture he hoped would get his point across. Arthur stiffened at the contact, but he ignored it and pressed on. "I meant what I said. I want… to spend time with you. You're probably the most interesting person that I've ever met. And I… don't want you to be lonely." It was at this point that Arthur's eyes looked back into Alfred's, wide and unsure. "I know it's kinda selfish," he admitted, "but I… I really mean it." He finished lamely. He hoped that he had conveyed his feelings well enough. He knew it wasn't his strong suit, but he had tried his best.

Arthur just stared at him, almost unblinkingly, for the longest time. Just long enough for Alfred to begin to feel awkward. He wondered if he had said something wrong. Did his declaration have such a profound effect on Arthur? Alfred was just about to say something, to break the tension, when Arthur spoke.

"You don't mean that." He said in a voice so small Alfred could hardly hear him, even over the quiet still of the forest. "You _can't_ mean that."

"But I do!" he nearly shouted. "Why would I say something I don't mean? What do I have to gain by lying to you?"

"What do you have to gain by being my friend?" Arthur shouted back.

Alfred was taken aback by that.

"Why would you bother? Why go to all this trouble for me?" Arthur looked down at the ground, his face flushed and his eyes heavy. It looked as if he was about to cry.

There it was again. That vulnerable side of Arthur that just made Alfred want to hold him close and protect him. He wanted to see Arthur smile, to hear him laugh, and to never let him come to harm. He wondered briefly if his hero complex would cause such strong emotions, but shrugged it off to answer Arthur's question.

"I told you already didn't I? I'm a hero. And heroes don't let anyone feel lonely." He smiled at Arthur a smile that he hoped was heroic, yet comforting.

Arthur let out a soft chuckle. "You really are a first class idiot." He said, with a slight smile. Alfred's heart nearly melted with that smile.

"So, 'Mr. Hero', how do you propose to 'save' me from my loneliness?" Arthur asked with unmasked skepticism in his voice.

Crap. Alfred hadn't thought that far. (He usually didn't.) "Uh, well, I… uh, thought we could… ya know… hangout… or something…" he trailed off. _Well that was lame. Now he's going to think you're stupid or something._ Little did Alfred know that Arthur already thought him quite stupid, so this statement really had no influence over Arthur's opinion of him.

"Hangout?" Arthur questioned, unfamiliar with Alfred's slang. Well, he had been living alone in a forest for half a century. "What do you mean by 'hangout'?"

"Well... you know. We spend time together… and uh, talk… 'n stuff." He said lamely. Man, was it difficult to try and explain theses simple things to Arthur.

"Ridiculous. That just seems like a waste of my time." Arthur huffed at him. Scratch that. It was Arthur himself that was difficult.

"Besides," Arthur said, "You should have realized the time difference by now. How long were you gone?"

Alfred was a bit confused by this at first, but then realized what Arthur was talking about. He thought back to his brother's words.

"It was… about… a week." He replied sheepishly.

"Exactly. If you come here and spend all of your time with me, won't your family and friends we worried?" Arthur questioned, arms across his chest. _It's like he's fishing for excuses as to why I can't be here. Could it be… that, maybe, he really does want me here?_

Alfred decided to test his theory. "That's not a problem!" Arthur was taken aback by the eagerness in Alfred's voice, "I'll just tell them that I got an apprenticeship in the next town! My brother's always telling me how lazy I am, and how I should get a job. That way, they won't worry if I'm gone for days at a time! Brilliant, right?" Alfred flashed him a smile. His plan was perfect, the best he'd ever come up with.

"That's rubbish." Arthur stated emphatically.

Wha-? How could he just shoot down Alfred's super-special-awesome plan like that? It was totally… super-special-awesome!

"First off, it's just plain dumb. Second of all, how are you going to explain the fact that you're not aging as you should? Third of all, when you're older, and have no trade to show for your little excursions, how will you earn a living? Lastly, did I mention that it's rubbish?"

Wow. Arthur had really torn him a new one. But, in all fairness, he really hadn't thought about all that stuff. No way was he going to let all those small, insignificant details get in the way of his heroic duties though.

"First," Alfred began, mocking Arthur, "It's not dumb. Second, I'll just say that I have a baby face. Third, I'll just apprentice myself to you. I can learn magic! Last, it is so not 'rubbish'." He finished, imitating Arthur's peculiar way of speaking.

Arthur's scowl, if possible, deepened. "I don't have to sit here and be insulted!" he shouted while he stood up. He then turned on his heel and headed for the door.

"I wasn't trying to insult you!" Alfred called as he jumped up and followed after Arthur. "I was totally serious!"

Arthur stooped just short of the door. He spun around as was on Alfred in an instant, jabbing a finger into his chest. "You? Learn magic? Preposterous! You can't even see the faye! A thick-headed dimwit like you could never be a wizard! You have NO magical talent and it would only serve as an exercise in futility to apprentice you!" Arthur shouted right in his face.

Alfred wanted to back away from Arthur. The ferocity of his shouting made him want to retreat into a corner. But he was a hero, damnit! If he backed away now, then all that he had gone through up to this point would be for nothing!

He squared his shoulders, and looked Arthur dead in the eye. "So what if I don't have any magical abilities? I can learn!" at this, Arthur scoffed, "Fine! Even if I can't learn, I can still help you out, you know! I… can run errands for you, or, clean, or… anything!" he shouted stubbornly. "I just…" he began, his voice dropping to just above a whisper, "I just want to spend time with you."

Arthur looked at him incredulously, as if judging his sincerity. Then he looked down at the ground, and Alfred saw his cheeks redden. "I…" he began, "I'm going to work you really hard. You had better be prepared for it…" Arthur said in defeat.

Alfred's face lit up. "You won't regret this!" he shouted, throwing his arms around Arthur and capturing him a crushing hug.

"I already do…" Arthur managed to wheeze out.

Alfred ignored him, and continued embracing Arthur well past the social norm. He was just so much fun to hug. He was the perfect size for Alfred's arms, and hugging him just felt… right, somehow. But he eventually had to stop when Arthur chanted something under his breath, and he was blasted back several feet by an unseen force. For the second time that day, he found himself flat on his aching ass.

"Serves you right." Arthur said, before turning and opening the door.

"Ah! Wait!" he called, not wanting to be rejected again, but stopped when he noticed that Arthur was standing just inside his room, holding the door open or Alfred. He had the cutest blush on his face, and was glaring at the doorframe.

"Well, are you coming or not?" he demanded, still not making eye contact.

Alfred stepped through the door, his grin so wide that he thought it might fly right off is face.

* * *

Hooray! Chapter 3! I'm quite proud of this chapter, even thought it's so short. We get to see some of the relationship between Alfred and Arthur develop a bit. And I'm sure you'll be happy to know that I now have a definite plan in my head. I know where this is story is going! I've got it all laid out, and now I just have to write it. Thanks to everyone who commented, and I hope that you'll continue to support this story.


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